I tried a lower tension yesterday and I hated it.
I tried 20/19 kg or 44/41 lbs, coming from 27 kg or 59.5 lbs. (full bed SPPP)
I played with it for half an hour after which I took another racket with my normal tension. Low tension is not for everybody..

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Buzzerrrr. That's not low tension. Read earlier post. Start at 35. Your experience above is exactly what you get in that middle point. Also ditch the tension difference for this total waste. Everyone seems to start too high. Actually start at 32

The stock swingweight is 330+. So with the additional weight, the SW should easily be 350 or more.

Both my playing partner and myself felt the low tension played well. Are you able to elaborate which aspect doesn't jive with the low tension?

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Where did you beef it up at? or what positions? I had the aerogel 200, then swapped to the aerogel 200 4Ds.. I have been playing around with some bio 300 weighted to the same weight as the ag 200 4ds..

mine, strung at 35lbs with a full bed of explosive poly, has a slight buzz. more so the first couple of times playing with it than now. Not sure if i just got use to it or if its gone down some.. i have my other racket strung at 30lbs but i have not hit with it yet..

mine, strung at 35lbs with a full bed of explosive poly, has a slight buzz. more so the first couple of times playing with it than now. Not sure if i just got use to it or if its gone down some.. i have my other racket strung at 30lbs but i have not hit with it yet..

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I had a buzz in my racquet when I strung it at 36, at 30, no buzzing at all.

I played with my blx six.one 95 at 35 lbs with big hitter blue rough, I string myself, and it was very nice to only pull 35 pounds. The stringing went super easy, was easier on the clamps and my hands since the clamps didn't have to be so tight to hold tension.

Anyway I hated it. For me there was no surprising spin or anything, it just felt like a racket strung too low. low power yes, but the spin was terrible. In my expert opinion my strings were moving too much on impact. I don't get how all you have such spin with low tensions, my brother tried my racket and agreed on the power, but playing against him he definently wasnt spinning the ball at all either, and he does at his normal 56 lbs.

I'm fed up at the moment with all this anyway so I'm gonna take a break for a few weeks but I do wish I had better results tonight... id have to say it wasn't even that much different than normal tension...

I had a buzz in my racquet when I strung it at 36, at 30, no buzzing at all.

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I played with 30# in both rackets i tried(bio 300 weighted the same as my aerogel 4d 200s & a f 3.0 tour) 2 nights and there was a slight buzz in both like the 35#. I am interested in seeing if its still there the next time because in had gone away after about two matches..

Ya, seems like everyone here loves it, makes me feel like I did something wrong... idk what it could of been though.

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eks-mat,

The extreme low tension is not for everyone. If you already hit with a lot of topspin you may not see that much of an increase. At higher tensions, I hit a pretty flat ball (thanks Jimmy Connors). Now I see tremendous amounts of topspin without much effort. And the backspin I get on some of drop shots is unbelievable.

As I stated earlier in the thread, all the people I have converted love the extra spin they get at ELT. I can vouch for the fact that it is their on their shots. Shots they weren't making before (at least not with the amount of spin). My girlfriend's shots started jumping a lot more, and the amount of spin was actually hard for me to gauge because it was so different than her shots when she was in the upper 50s.

I had to alter my game a little, but I am loving the ELT. But, like I said, it's not for everybody. Use what you are comfortable with. I like what ELT has done for my game and right now I can't see going back to the higher tensions.

Sorry it didn't work for you, but don't feel you did anything wrong. Did you hit with a lot of topspin at higher tensions?

On another note, I injured my arm in a singles match on Wednesday. I knew from past experience that I was going to have trouble serving last night. It was a little tenuous at first, but I think the ELT made it much easier to serve with the soreness I had. I remember having the same soreness when I first started playing again a few years ago, and I was lucky to get the ball over the net on my serves. I chalk it up to the low tension helping to propel the ball.

It could be a mental thing, but I was actually serving pretty well, even with the pain.

The extreme low tension is not for everyone. If you already hit with a lot of topspin you may not see that much of an increase. At higher tensions, I hit a pretty flat ball (thanks Jimmy Connors). Now I see tremendous amounts of topspin without much effort. And the backspin I get on some of drop shots is unbelievable.

As I stated earlier in the thread, all the people I have converted love the extra spin they get at ELT. I can vouch for the fact that it is their on their shots. Shots they weren't making before (at least not with the amount of spin). My girlfriend's shots started jumping a lot more, and the amount of spin was actually hard for me to gauge because it was so different than her shots when she was in the upper 50s.

I had to alter my game a little, but I am loving the ELT. But, like I said, it's not for everybody. Use what you are comfortable with. I like what ELT has done for my game and right now I can't see going back to the higher tensions.

Sorry it didn't work for you, but don't feel you did anything wrong. Did you hit with a lot of topspin at higher tensions?

On another note, I injured my arm in a singles match on Wednesday. I knew from past experience that I was going to have trouble serving last night. It was a little tenuous at first, but I think the ELT made it much easier to serve with the soreness I had. I remember having the same soreness when I first started playing again a few years ago, and I was lucky to get the ball over the net on my serves. I chalk it up to the low tension helping to propel the ball.

It could be a mental thing, but I was actually serving pretty well, even with the pain.

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Thanks for the input. I was gonna try it out again, but probably wont now. Big Hitter rough is pretty soft for a poly, maybe with a very stiff poly I'd like it more IDK. But ya I do hit with decent topspin already, and with the ELT I had virtually no spin, as well as NO power just swinging as I normally do. I really went at a few and just couldn't get the spin.

Having said that I am glad I tried it, and I am still gonna drop my normal tension a few lbs to see if I can find a sweet spot that does yield me a little more spin and increase ball pocketing. Also, I don't have arm issues, but the softness at 35 lbs was pretty nice I have to admit.

Thanks for the input. I was gonna try it out again, but probably wont now. Big Hitter rough is pretty soft for a poly, maybe with a very stiff poly I'd like it more IDK. But ya I do hit with decent topspin already, and with the ELT I had virtually no spin, as well as NO power just swinging as I normally do. I really went at a few and just couldn't get the spin.

Having said that I am glad I tried it, and I am still gonna drop my normal tension a few lbs to see if I can find a sweet spot that does yield me a little more spin and increase ball pocketing. Also, I don't have arm issues, but the softness at 35 lbs was pretty nice I have to admit.

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Sorry to hear that you did not like ELT...

I have not tried Big Hitter Rough (BHR) but I have used Pro Supex Big Ace, which is touted to be a very soft co-poly. I did not like it at all in the low 40s and high 30s. Like your experience, there is simply no power, no spin and not much control. Just plushy softness! And there was plenty of string vibrations that even two dampeners could not mute!!!

At 50-60+ lbs, I normally already hit with a lot of topspin. With ELT, my spin levels increased much more than the increase in power. That allowed me to swing all out even from mid-court and not fear hitting the ball long. The spin will take care of it.

My one single session with 16g multi/ 17g syn gut already converted me. I fear to even think how much more spin I will get with poly at ELT. If the extra spin materializes, how am I going to even get the ball over the net! :shock:

Playing with this low tension really is something different. I was ready to give up on it last week, but told myself to really focus on good stroke technique and not going for extreme power shots the last 2 days hitting..and I love it again!

I was playing tired up until then for a few days and couldn't control my shots.

I can't stress enough how much you need proper technique at these low tensions. That is when you get rewarded

I generally have been stringing polys at 48-56 lbs -- decided to try low 40's.

I found the string bed felt duller and less responsive and bothered my arm to boot -- tried this with a couple of polys.

Don't know if this was addressed in this thread earlier, bit I am curious to see if anyone else had the same experience.

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I started out in the 60's and some at 70. I started dropping at the suggestion of my coach.

I liked the initial drops into the low 50's, but when I got into the 40's, I had some control issues, and my forearm tended to get a little sore. In short, I didn't like it. It wasn't really too bad, but I didn't see any great advantage over the low 50's I had worked down to.

I was about to give up when I came upon this thread. I went into the 30's and found what a lot of people here have found. I liked it. My control started to return, no more arm soreness, and my strokes actually improved. Plus I started getting a lot more spin on the ball.

When I dropped down to 30 (which was the original intent of the thread) I found lots of power, spin and control. My service speed had dropped off a little when I started lowering my tension, but once I got into the really low 30s and at 30, it picked back up. Maybe it was just needing to get used to the lower tensions, maybe the middle tensions (40's & high 30's) aren't ideal for the way I serve.

To make a long story a little shorter, I absolutely love the ELT. Not the middle of the road, a bit lower than "normal" tensions, but the extreme low range. I tried several different blends in the mids. They all lacked what I was looking for. But when I got down to 32 and 30, I found a new weapon.

Everyone's experience is going to be a little different due to racquet choice and playing style. But I would say that the people going down into the 40's are missing the point of the experiment. Until you get WAY down in the 30's, you are not experiencing the effects of ELT.

In other words ... GO FOR IT!!! Jump in with reckless abandon. Do a great big cannonball. Don't wade into the shallow end of the pool up to your ankles and decide that swimming isn't for you. Have some fun.

Like Cole Porter said, "Do what all good scientists do ... EXPERIMENT"!

Again thanks for your original reply to me -- so I tried 30 lbs not really expecting much but was very pleasantly surprised -- you were right on about better feel, more spin, a little more power, and yet still very good control.

I picked up a reel of Discho Big Blue 1.20 in Germany when I was visiting my daughter over Christmas (29 EU was too good to pass up). I started out trying it at 46 lbs (drop weight) which is a low tension for me. I quite liked it for the first 5 hours. I found it to be a low powered control string with a muted but not dull feel. After 5 h it became deadened and was hard on my arm -- up until then no problem. I cut it out right away and tried 42 lbs thinking I might get a longer playing time before it started bothering my arm -- no such luck -- right off the bat it gave me grief.

With some reluctance I followed your suggestion and strung up my racquet yesterday at 30 lbs (M's & X's). First off, stringing was an absolute delight -- pulling crosses was easy and quick. Today I played a friend who is a solid 4.5 -5.0. I usually average winning 3 games against him and have problems holding serve. We hit for about half an hour then played a set. Maybe I was sharp today, but I think the string setup made a big difference. I lost 7-6 in a tie break. I didn't break him but I did get him to deuce on his serve a few times. I held my own serve pretty easily, getting 5 aces on the way -- normally I get 1 - 2 per set. I did notice my balls were launching off my racquet at a higher angle giving me more clearance over the net, but as you noted the spin I was getting on the ball was bringing it down nicely so my shots were landing deep with some kick. I had to adjust a little bit to the way my racquet played but not anything really drastic. I was also surprised at the control I had on returning serve -- I was sure I would have a hard time with balls flying away on me -- in fact I had one of my better days returning -- slices, drives, and deep bloopers were all working. Finally, no arm pain after my session -- hope this continues.

What I am now wondering is how long the playability will last and I am also quite keen to try a few other polys at 30 lbs to see how they play.

Chemistry ... nice to hear the good reports about ELT. Like I said earlier, I was very pleasantly surprised when I went low. I am now holding my own against players who used to thrash me. A bit more practice and I may actually start beating them.

U-S ... thanx for the shout-out in the blog. I like the syn-gut over the poly, but they both play great at ELT. What really got me was going to natural gut and getting even more spin and control. I played mixed doubles last night, and even though my arm was still sore (bruised my bicep ... don't ask), I was still able to hit some wonderful shots.

I think my next project may be to make some ELT shirts and give them to people who are playing at 30#.

U-S ... thanx for the shout-out in the blog. I like the syn-gut over the poly, but they both play great at ELT. What really got me was going to natural gut and getting even more spin and control. I played mixed doubles last night, and even though my arm was still sore (bruised my bicep ... don't ask), I was still able to hit some wonderful shots.

I think my next project may be to make some ELT shirts and give them to people who are playing at 30#.

The revolution has begun!

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I seriously don't think i can handle any more spin!

Initially, I had some difficulties hitting deep with so much spin. Quite a few balls curled down into the net on my side. I had to take a full loopy smack at the ball to get it over with heavy topspin. Once it cleared the net, i can really see my partner struggling to get his timing right. It kicks almost 6ft up! Most of his returns became weak blocks and shallow taps.

Don't start the revolution! Let us practise more and make $ betting with the skeptics. :twisted:

Ok, I just strung an MG Rad with Outlast 16L/Forten Sweet 17 at 32/35. Been playing with 17g syngut at 50, so already coming from moderate/low tension.

First hit:

Groundies: deeper, often landing around the baseline, but seem quite a bit slower. Even when I'd really step in and crank one it seemed like the ball was in slo mo and the other guy had an extra 5 seconds to get there!

Volleys: more forgiving, more bite on slice

Serve: only hit a few but seemed slower like groundies

Comfort: same. Really didn't seem extra comfortable and definitely less so than syn gut at 50.

Control: Same.

How are people getting more power with this setup? I can see deeper but it seemed half speed compared to when I smack a flat FH at 50lbs. Please explain!

Sorry if this question has been asked a billion times already here, but I'm not up to going through all 80 pages of this thread tonight.

I'm recovering from Golfer's Elbow. How does the low tension poly compare to natural gut in terms of comfort and feel? Is low tension poly going to be more forgiving or do you guys think it would be ok with a more flexable racquet to give it a the low T poly a spin? (pardon the pun)

Sorry if this question has been asked a billion times already here, but I'm not up to going through all 80 pages of this thread tonight.

I'm recovering from Golfer's Elbow. How does the low tension poly compare to natural gut in terms of comfort and feel? Is low tension poly going to be more forgiving or do you guys think it would be ok with a more flexable racquet to give it a the low T poly a spin? (pardon the pun)

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I would go one step further and try gut at low tension like yourmailman has. Especially if you're recovering from golfer's elbow.

Check some of his posts a page or 2 back where he's tried klip 18 to great results.

Poly at low tensions is fairly comfortable - I've got Solinco TB17 and Barb wire at 35 - but don't take a chance.